Mounting Arrangement for Mounting Cooler Unit to Work Machine

ABSTRACT

A mounting arrangement for mounting a cooler unit to a work machine has a traveling device, a machine body frame, an engine and the cooler unit disposed adjacent the engine. The arrangement includes a support deck provided in the machine body frame for supporting the cooler unit, an attachment unit for releasably fixing the cooler unit to the machine body frame and a movement mechanism provided between the cooler unit and the support deck, the movement mechanism allowing the cooler unit to effect a translational movement to change a distance relative to the engine.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 12/562,372 filed Sep. 18, 2009, which claims priority to JapanesePatent No. 2009-058481 filed Mar. 11, 2009.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mounting arrangement for mounting acooler unit to a work machine including a traveling device, a machinebody frame, an engine and the cooler unit disposed adjacent the engine.

2. Description of the Related Art

With this type of work machine, as disclosed in Japanese PatentApplication “Kokai” No. 2002-294748, there is provided a firstconnecting means connected to an engine of the work machine, the firstconnecting means pivotally attaching a radiator connected to the engineto the frame so that the radiator may be pivoted about its lower edge,from its closed position where the radiator is located near the frameand its opened position where the radiator is located by a certaindistance from the frame.

This first connecting means includes a plurality of support memberscompletely fixed to the frame in respective correspondence with thelower edge of the radiator. Each one of these support members has asaddle-like shape for allowing insertion of the lower edge of theradiator.

The above construction allows easy and speedy cleaning operations of theradiator and the cooling fan in the earth-moving work machine and allowsalso easy access by a worker's hand to other components of the machinethat are attached to the rear portion of the radiator.

With the above-described conventional art, since the radiator is pivotedabout its lower portion relative to the frame while the radiator islocated at is mounted position, it is difficult to form a space formaintenance between the lower portion of the radiator and the engine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-described drawback of the conventional art, theprincipal object of the present invention is to provide a mountingarrangement for mounting a cooler unit to a work machine, whicharrangement allows maintenance operation of the cooler unit and/or theengine to be effected smoothly.

For accomplishing the above-noted object, according to the presentinvention, there is provided a mounting arrangement for mounting acooler unit to a work machine including a traveling device, a machinebody frame, an engine and the cooler unit disposed adjacent the engine,the arrangement comprising:

a support deck provided in the machine body frame for supporting thecooler unit;

an attachment unit for releasably fixing the cooler unit to the machinebody frame; and

a movement mechanism provided between the cooler unit and the supportdeck, the movement mechanism allowing the cooler unit to effect atranslational movement to change a distance relative to the engine.

Especially, if the general construction of an engine room of the workmachine is taken into consideration, it is advantageous to allow thecooler unit to effect a horizontal movement in order to change thedistance relative to the engine effectively.

If the cooler unit effects a translational movement, or preferably ahorizontal movement by the function of the movement mechanism so as toincrease the distance relative to the engine, there is created a spacebetween the cooler unit and the engine, and this space facilitatesmaintenance operations of the cooler unit and/or the engine, inparticular the troublesome maintenance of their mutually opposed sides.

According to one preferred embodiment, the mounting arrangement furthercomprises a tilt mechanism provided between the cooler unit and thesupport deck, the tilt mechanism allowing tilting of an upper portion ofthe cooler unit in the direction away from the engine after thehorizontal movement of this cooler unit away from the engine. By thefunction of the movement mechanism, the cooler unit is moved in thedirection away from the engine and then by the function of the tiltmechanism, the upper portion of the cooler unit is tilted about thelower portion thereof, in the direction away from the engine. With thesemovements, there is created larger upper space with greater openingwidth between the engine and the cooler unit. Further, if the movementmechanism and the tilt mechanism are combined together as an integralmovement/tilt mechanism, then, due to shared use of members, there isachieved advantage of greater simplicity of the construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a side view in vertical section of principal portions showing afirst embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 an overall side view in section,

FIG. 3 a side view of principal portions,

FIG. 4 a side view of a guide vertical plate,

FIG. 5 an exploded side view of a cooler unit frame,

FIG. 6 a rear view of principal portions,

FIG. 7 a rear view of the cooler unit,

FIG. 8 an exploded side view of a cooler unit frame,

FIG. 9 a plane view of principal portions,

FIG. 10 an overall plane view,

FIG. 11 a plane view of principal portions,

FIG. 12 a plane view of an upper plate of the cooler unit frame,

FIG. 13 a plane view of a lower plate of the cooler unit frame,

FIG. 14 a side view in section of principal portions showing a secondembodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 15 an enlarged side view of a lower section of the cooler unit,

FIG. 16 a rear view of principal portions,

FIG. 17 a rear view of a cooler unit,

FIG. 18 a plane view of principal portions,

FIG. 19 an enlarged plane view of principal portions,

FIG. 20 an overall side view of a work machine,

FIG. 21 a perspective view showing a machine body frame as seen from itsrear side,

FIG. 22 a rear view of the cooler unit, showing only its principalportions,

FIGS. 23A, B, C: diagrams illustrating a horizontal movement of thecooler unit in the first embodiment,

FIG. 24 a side view showing only the principal portions of the coolerunit in the third embodiment,

FIG. 25 a rear view showing only the principal portions of the coolerunit in the third embodiment, and

FIGS. 26A, B, C diagrams illustrating a horizontal movement of thecooler unit in the third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Next, one preferred embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 through 21.

As shown in FIG. 20, according to one preferred embodiment, the presentinvention is applied to a skid-steer loader 1. In this skid-steerloader, a driving device 4 is mounted at a front portion of a machinebody frame 3 suspending a crawler type traveling device 2. The machinebody frame 3 supports, on right and left sides at a rear portionthereof, the base side of a work machine (excavating work machine) 6 forlifting up/down an implement (bucket) 5 on the forward side of thedriving device 4. At the rear portion of the machine body frame 3, thereare mounted an engine 7 and a cooler unit 8. The rear end of the machinebody frame 3 is covered with a hood 9 to be opened/closed.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 6, 10, 20 and 21, the machine body frame 3 whichis formed of steel plates, forms a box-like frame main body 26 having abottom wall 26A, right and left side walls 26B, a front wall 260 and arear wall 26D. To the right and left side walls 26D, there are fixedlyattached a pair of right and left support frames 27 which projectoutward from the respective rear ends of the right and left side walls26D of this frame main body 26. And, to a rear upper portion of theframe main body 26, there is fixedly attached a bridging member 28 whichinterconnects the right and left side walls 26D and upper portions ofthe support frames 27 with each other.

Referring more particularly to the frame main body 26 of this machinebody frame 3, a portion thereof forwardly of the bridging member 28 isopened upward and a portion thereof rearwardly of the bridging member 28is also opened upward, so as to allow mounting of the engine 7 fromabove. The rear side of the frame main body 26 is opened rearward toallow access to the engine 7 and the cooler unit 8 from the rear sidefor their maintenance.

Each one of the pair of right and left support frames 27 includes aninner wall 27A, an outer wall 27B and a rear wall 27C which are allformed of metal plates, with front edges of the inner wall 27A and theouter wall 27B being fixedly attached to the rear wall 26D of the framemain body 26 thus forming a box-like arrangement.

The inner wall 27A of the support frame 27 projects more upwardly thanthe outer wall 27B thereof, and the right/left end portion of thebridging member 28 is fixedly attached to an upper portion of this innerwall 27A. The front wall of the support frame 27 is formed by the rearwall 26D of the frame main body 26, thus acting also as a fender forcovering the rear side of the traveling device 2.

The inner walls 27A of the right and left support frames 27 form rightand left side walls of an engine room, with upper edges thereof beingdownwardly inclined rearward from the rear edge of the bridging member28. A room cover 21 for covering the upper side of the engine roomextends with downward inclination from the bridging member 28 to therear end of the machine body frame 3, so as to provide a greater rearlower view from the driving device 4. The room cover 21 has its frontportion pivoted to the bridging member 28, so that the rear portion ofthe cover can be pivotally elevated to open up the upper side of theengine room.

Each side wall 26B of the frame main body 26 forms an attaching portion29 for attaching a hydraulic motor of the traveling device 2 and to alower portion of the outer face of the wall, a track frame 30 is fixedlyattached and to an upper edge of the outer face, a fender 31 is fixedlyattached. This fender 31 is connected to the upper end of the rear wall26D of the support frame 27.

The track frame 30 supports front and rear driven wheels 33F, 33R and aplurality of free wheels 34. Around these wheels and a drive wheel 35attached to the hydraulic motor, a crawler 36 is entrained, thus forminga crawler type traveling device. And, a pair of right and left crawlertype traveling devices constitute the traveling device 2.

Incidentally, the traveling device 2 is not limited to the crawler typetraveling device, but can be e.g. front/rear wheel traveling device or atraveling device having a front wheel and a rear crawler.

The driving device 4 is disposed upwardly of a front half of the framemain body 26 and includes a driver's seat 38 and a maneuvering devicemounted on a floor plate inside a cabin 37. The floor plate of the cabin37 is provided for a rear half portion of the bottom of the cabin, witha front half portion thereof being opened downward. A driver seated atthe driver's seat 38 will place his/her foot on a step provided insidethe frame main body 26. The cabin 37 includes an entrance/exit openingin its front side.

The cabin 37 has a pivot shaft at a lower portion in the rear sidethereof and this pivot shaft is supported to a support bracket 39attached to the upper face of the bridging member 28. Further, betweenthe cabin 37 and the frame main body 26, there is provided a damper forcabin lifting.

Thus, the front portion of the cabin 37 can be pivotally elevated aboutthe lower portion of the rear side thereof, from the front-lower side tothe rear-upper side, and with this elevation, the inside of the framemain body 26 is opened to allow maintenance of devices, etc. disposedtherein.

The work machine 6 includes the implement (bucket) 5, a pair of rightand left arms 41 pivotally connecting the implement 5 via a pivot shaft5A at their leading ends, a lift link 42 pivotally connected to the baseportion of each one of the right and left arms 41, a control link 43pivotally connected to a vicinity of the base portion of the right/leftarm 41, an implement cylinder 44 mounted between the implement 5 and thearm 41, and an arm cylinder 45 mounted between the arm 41 and thesupport frame 27.

The right and left arms 41 are interconnected at front and rear twopositions by a front connecting member 46 and a rear connecting member47, so that the arms are lifted up/down on the right and left sides ofthe cabin 37. The front connecting member 46 car come into contact withthe front wall 26C of the frame main body 26 when the arm 41 is loweredto its lowermost position. The rear connecting member 47 is formed of apipe and is disposed slightly forwardly of the rear end of the arm 41.Each one of the right and left arms 41 includes, at a lower portion ofthe opposing side face, a triangular downwardly projecting portion 41A.

The lift link 42 is disposed under a vertical posture, with a lowerportion thereof being inserted within the support frame 27 to be pivotedthereto via a first pin P1 and an upper portion thereof being connectedvia a second pin P2 to a base portion of the arm 41 rearwardly of therear connecting member 47, with this rear portion being pivotable backand forth.

The control link 43 is disposed under a fore/aft posture, with a frontportion thereof pivoted via a third pin P3 to an upper portion of theinner wall 27A of the support frame 27 and a support member 48 fixedlyattached to a front upper portion of the rear wall 26D of the frame mainbody 26 and a rear portion thereof being connected via a fourth pin P4to the projecting portion 41A adjacent the base portion of the arm 41,with this rear portion being pivotable upward from the approximatelyhorizontal posture.

The arm cylinder 45 has its tube lower portion inserted within thesupport frame 27 and connected thereto via a first connecting pin R1and, a cylinder rod leading end thereof is connected to the arm 41 via asecond connecting pin R2.

The first pin P1 is located adjacent the rear end upper portion of themachine body frame 3. The third pin P3 is located slightly higher thanthe first pin P1 and its fore/aft position is overlapped with the rearportion of the cabin 37 of the driving device 4.

The first connecting pin R1 is disposed slightly forwardly of the firstpin P1. The second connecting pin R2 is disposed on the opposite sideaway from the second pin P2 across the rear connecting member 47, withthese pins being aligned substantially linearly. The distance from thesecond pin P2 to the second connecting pin R2 is longer than thedistance from the second pin P2 to the fourth pin P4 and also shorterthan the distance from the second pin P2 to the third pin P3, so that ina side view, the arm cylinder 47 intersects the control link 43

Under the lowermost state of the arm 41 where the implement 5 is placedon the ground surface, in the lift link 42, the second pin P2 isslightly rearwardly inclined relative to the first pin P1, and in thecontrol link 43, the fourth pin P4 is slightly rearwardly upwardlyinclined relative to the third pin P3, and in the arm 41, the secondconnecting pin R2 is under a forwardly downwardly inclined posture, asbeing lower than the second pin P2 and higher than the fourth pin P4.And, the arm cylinder 45 intersects the control unit 43 at theapproximate center in the fore/aft direction of the latter, and the armcylinder 45 extends substantially perpendicularly to the centerlineinterconnecting the second pin P2 of the arm 41 and the pivot shaft 5A.

The arm 41, the lift link 42 and the control ink 43 constitute afour-link structure having the first pin P1 through the fourth pin P4 asthe four links thereof. In operation, when the arm cylinder 45 isexpanded, the structure elevates the arm 41 about the second pin P2,with restriction by the control link 43 and with a fore/aft pivotalmovement of the lift link 42.

Over the entire range of the elevating movement of the arm 41 from itslowermost position to the uppermost position, the lift link 42 does notproject more rearward than the hood 9, whereas the control ink 43changes in its posture from its rear-raised position to therear-inclined posture, but this vertical movement is only with a rangesmaller than 90 degrees.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-13, 20 and 21, in the machinebody frame 3, to the rear end of the bottom wall 26 a of the frame mainbody 26, there is fixed an extension bottom plate 51 forming the bottombetween the right and left support frames 27, and the engine 7 ismounted on the bottom wall 26A and this extension bottom plate 51.Further, at a rear portion of the extension bottom wall 51, there areprovided support decks 12 and a carrier deck 20, and the cooler unit 8is mounted via the support decks 12.

The engine 7 includes, on the side of its rear face, a cooling fan 7Awhich is driven by the crank shaft via a belt transmission means 7B.And, the cooler unit 8 is disposed rearwardly of this engine 7. To theface of this cooler unit 8 on the side of the engine 7, there isattached a fan shroud 10 covering the cooling fan 7. Incidentally, inthis embodiment, the center of the cooler unit 8 is offset from thecenter of the cooling fan 7A. However, these centers can be in agreementwith each other.

The cooler unit 8 includes a cooler unit body 8A, and a cooler unitframe 8B surrounding the right and left sides and upper and lower sidesof the cooler unit body 8A for its protection.

The cooler unit body 8A is an arrangement integrating together aradiator and an oil cooler disposed in juxtaposition. The radiator hasan inlet cap 8 a for allowing introduction of water and a hose 8 bconnected between the engine 7 and this radiator. To the oil cooler, ahydraulic hose 8 c is connected.

The hydraulic hose 8 c of the oil cooler is connected to a hydraulicrelay device 23, together with hydraulic hoses of other hydraulicdevices. And, via this hydraulic relay device 23, the hose 8 c isconnected to a hydraulic tank. The hydraulic hose 8 c, as shown in FIG.2, is disposed in a coiled state between the oil cooler and thehydraulic relay device 23, so that when the cooler unit 8 is moved backand forth, the radius of the coil changes accordingly, so that the hosecan be extended/contracted or flexed smoothly and compactly.

Referring to the cooler unit 8, the rear portion thereof projects morerearwardly than the rear end of the room cover 21 covering the rear faceof the machine body frame 3 and the upper side of the cooler unit 8, andthis projecting exposed portion is covered with the hood 9 foropening/closing the rear end of the machine body frame 3.

The rear face of the machine body frame 3 is not perpendicular, but isforwardly inclined, with the upper portion being on the forward side,and the upper portion of the cooler unit 8 is exposed more greatly fromthe rear face of the machine body frame 3 than the lower portion of theunit.

The hood 9 is supported to one right/left side of the rear face of themachine body frame 3 to be pivotable about a vertical axis. On the innerface of the hood 9 facing the cooler unit 8, there is attached anauxiliary cooler unit 22 such as an air conditioner. This auxiliarycooler unit 22 is connected to the devices inside the machine body frame3 via a medium conveying hose.

The cooler unit 8A can consist of a radiator alone, and the oil coolercan be attached as the auxiliary cooler unit 22 to the hood 9.

The cooler unit frame 8B includes a lower plate 53, a pair of right andleft side plates 54 having lower ends thereof fixedly attached to therear upper face of this lower plate 53, and an upper plate 55 fastenedby bolts to the upper portions of the right and left side plates 54,with the right and left side plates 54 or the upper and lower plates 53,55 binding the cooler unit body 8A therebetween. The inlet cap 8 a ofthe cooler unit body 8A projects upward through the upper plate 55.

On the lower face of the lower plate 58, there is provided a positioningmember 58 formed by welding two plate members to the right/leftapproximate center portion of the lower face. On the right and leftopposed sides of the front side portion, a pair of right and leftengaging members 14 having an L-shape in the rear view are fixed toproject downward therefrom. The lower portion of the right and leftengaging members 14 have a same bending direction.

Further, at the right and left opposed sides of the front side portionof the lower face of the lower plate 53, there are provided supportmembers 57 formed of elastic rubber or resin. And, these support members57 can come into contact with the carrier deck 20. Alternatively, thesupport members 57 can be freely rotatable wheels.

The fan shroud 10 is attached to either the cooler unit body 8A or thecooler unit frame 8B and its attaching portion has a similar shape tothe cooler unit frame 8B and its portion facing the cooling fan 7A isformed circular and there is provided a seal member 64 having a circularshape in the rear view. This seal member 64 is expandable/contractiblealong the axis of the cooling fan 7A.

The engine 7 includes a seal receiving member (not shown) engageablewith the cooling fan 7A with a clearance relative thereto and the sealmember 64 is placed in detachable contact with this seal receivingmember. The cooling fan 7A is a blowout type. The seal member 64 servesto prevent reduction in the wind velocity due to increase of theclearance (chip clearance) between the cooling fan 7A and the fan shroud10. Hence, when the member 62 is attached again after movement of thecooler unit 8, the chip clearance can be minimal, thus preventinginadvertent contact between the fan shroud 10 and the cooling fan 7A.

On the outer face of each one of the right and left side plates 54,upper and lower stays 56 are fixedly attached. These stays 56 aredetachably attached via bolts to an attaching member 13 provided in e.g.the right left support frames 27 of the machine body frame 3, theextension bottom plate 51, etc. The attaching member 13 is onecounterpart member of an attachment unit.

The pair of right and left support decks 12 provided at the rear portionof the extension bottom plate 51 comprise a portal structure formed byconnecting upper ends of guide vertical plates 15 to the horizontalupper portion of a member 12A having an inverse-L-shaped figure in itsrear view, and the upper faces of the decks 12 are substantiallyhorizontal to mount the lower plate 53 of the cooler unit 8 withallowing horizontal movement (sliding) thereof.

The support decks 12 are provided as the right and left pair and eachguide vertical plate 15 is disposed on the same side (right side)thereof, in correspondence with the bending direction of the horizontallower portions 14 a of the right and left engaging members 14.

The guide vertical plate 15 defines a movement slot 81 in which thehorizontal lower portion 14 a of the engaging member 14 is engageable tobe guided back and forth in the horizontal direction and a tilt slot 91communicated with the movement side end of the rear portion of thismovement slot 81, the tilt slot 91 being configured for guiding upwardmovement of the horizontal lower portion 14 a of the engaging member 14so as to allow a tilting movement of the upper portion of the coolerunit 8 to the rear wide away from the engine 7.

The engaging member 14 provided between the cooler unit 8 and thesupport deck 12 and the movement slot 81 together constitute a movementmechanism 80 for allowing rearward horizontal movement of the coolerunit 8 and also of the fan shroud 10 attached to this cooler unit 8,from the engine 7 side. The engaging member 14 and the tilt slot 91together constitute a tilt mechanism 90 for allowing rearward tiltingmovement of the upper portion of the cooler unit 8 about the lowerportion thereof to the rear side away from the engine 7, after releaseof fixation by the attaching member 13 and subsequent rearwardhorizontal movement of the cooler unit 8.

At an upper portion of the inverse L-shaped member 12A of the supportdeck 12, there is formed a cutout 12 a. By inserting the horizontallower portion 14 a of the engaging member 14 into this cutout 12 a fromabove and the moving in the right/left direction, the horizontal lowerportion 14 a can be engaged within the movement slot 81 or the tilt slot91.

To a rear portion of the extension bottom plate 51, there is fixedlyattached a set member 59 provided at substantial center between theright and left support decks 12 and acting also as a receiver forreceiving the cooler unit 8. This set member 59 is an integralportal-shaped member or an assembly of two separate vertical platesdisposed vertically and side by side. In operation, this set member 59comes into contact with the cooler unit frame 8B between right and leftpositioning members 58, thus fixedly positioning the cooler unit 8 inthe right/left direction.

For mounting the cooler unit 8 on the support decks 12, the cooler unit8 will be lowered from above to insert the horizontal lower portions 14a of the engaging portions 14 into the cutouts 2 a in opposition to thetilt slots 91 (or the movement slots 81). Then, under this condition,the cooler unit frame 8B will be placed on the support decks 12, withengaging the right and left positioning members 58 with the right andleft set members 59.

When the cooler unit frame 8B is mounted on the support decks 12, thecooler unit 8 is set at a proper position in the right/left direction,and the horizontal lower portions 14 a of the engaging members 14 arelocated at the intersections between the movement slots 81 and the tiltslots 91, so that the unit is movable both forwardly and upwardly.

When the horizontal lower portion 14 a of the engaging member 14 islocated at the intersection between the movement slot 81 and the tiltslot 91, the support member 57 is mounted on a rear portion of thecarrier deck 20 and the fan shroud 10 can move upward with rearwarddisplacement from its condition surrounding the cooling fan 7A. As aresult, there can be created a space in the fore/aft direction betweenthe engine 7 and the cooling fan 7A and the cooler unit 8 and the fanshroud 10.

Under the above-described condition, if the cooler unit 8 is forwardlymoved horizontally (sliding movement), the support member 57 movesforwardly on the carrier deck 20 and the horizontal lower portion 14 aof the engaging member 14 moves forwardly within the movement slot 81.With this forward horizontal movement, the right and left and upper andlower stays 56 as the other counterpart members of the attachment unitcomes into opposition to the attaching members 13 as the one counterpartmembers of the attachment unit, and then by bolt-fastening thesetogether, the cooler unit 8 is fixed to the machine body frame 3.

On the other hand, by loosening the bolts fastening the stays 56, thefixation by the attaching member 13 will be released, so that the coolerunit 8 is rendered movable horizontally relative to the machine bodyframe 3 and if the horizontal lower portion 14 a of the engaging member14 is moved horizontally rearward within the movement slot 81 to theintersection with the tilt slot 91 which is the rear end of the movementslot 81, the cooler unit 8, will now be moved, over its entire verticalarea including both the upper and lower portions thereof, away from theengine 7, thus creating a space usable for maintenance and also enablingmovement thereof into the tilt slot 91.

Then, when the upper portion of the cooler unit 8 is rendered tiltableabout the support member 57 to the rear side away from the engine 7, thehorizontal lower portion 14 a of the engaging member 14 will move upwardwithin the tilt slot 91 (sliding movement) and then come to a stop atthe upper end of this tilt slot 91. With this stopping of the horizontallower portion 14 a at the upper end of the tilt slot 91 and stopping ofthe upward movement thereby, the cooler unit 8 is retained under therearwardly tilted posture.

With this rearward tilting movement of the cooler unit 8, the space inthe fore/aft direction created previously between the engine 7, thecooling fan 7A and the cooler unit 8 and the fan shroud 10 by therearward horizontal movement is enlarged and widened from an I-shape toa V-shape.

Further, as the upper portion of the rear face of the machine body frame3 is formed as a forwardly inclined face with the upper portion being onthe forward side, the above-described V-shaped space formed with therearwardly tilted cooler unit 8 is widened and opened up even further atthe upper portion of the rear face of the machine body frame 3, thusimproving visibility of the cooling fan 7A, the belt transmission means7B and devices around them, from the upper side, thus providing a spaceallowing access thereto by a hand introduced therethrough.

Second Embodiment

FIGS. 14 through 19 show a second embodiment of the present invention.In this second embodiment, the movement mechanism 80 and the tiltmechanism 90 for the cooler unit 8 are formed in a horizontal plate.

A cooler unit frame 8B includes a lower plate 53, a pair of right andleft side plates 64, and an upper plate 55. In the lower face of thelower plate 53, there is provided a hook member 17 as a downwardprojection, the hook member being formed by inserting and fixing a pinthrough right and left sides of a front portion. And, at a lower end ofthis hook member 17, there is engaged and fixedly attached, under aninclined posture, a stopper member 18 having an approximate front-round,rear-rectangular shape.

Each one of the pair of right and left support decks 12 fixed to theextension bottom plate 51 is formed by bending a band plate into aportal shape and its upper face forms a horizontal portion capable ofmounting thereon the cooler unit 8, and this horizontal portionconstitutes a guide horizontal plate 19 constituting the movementmechanism 80 and the tilt mechanism 90.

This guide horizontal plate 19 defines a slot having an approximatelyL-shape in the plane view and receiving an engaging member 17therethrough. In this plane-viewed L-shaped slot 82, its fore/aftextending portion constitutes a movement slot 82, whereas its portionextending from its rear end to intersect the horizontal movementdirection (right/left direction) constitutes a transverse movement slot83.

The movement slot 82 guides fore/aft horizontal movement of the coolerunit 8 and serves also for preventing inadvertent withdrawal of thestopper member 18. In operation, when the cooler unit 8 is movedrearward horizontally and the stopper member 17 is moved to the rear endposition (horizontal movement end portion) of the movement slot 82, andthen, when the upper portion of the cooler unit 8 is tilted about thelower portion of the same rearwardly away from the engine 7, to move thehook member 17 in the withdrawing direction, the movement slot 82inhibits inadvertent withdrawal of the stopper member 18, thusrestricting the rearward tilting movement of the cooler unit 8.

As shown by the virtual line in FIG. 14, the posture of the stoppermember 18 in contact with the lower face of the guide horizontal plate19 realizes the rearward tilting of the cooler unit 8, and the coolerunit 8 is maintained under this posture.

Therefore, as the movement slot 82 allows fore/aft horizontal movement(sliding) of the hook member 17, these members, i.e. the movement slot82 and the hook member 17, together constitute the movement mechanism80. And, the arrangement of inhibiting withdrawal of the stopper member18 from the movement slot 82 while allowing the movement of the hookmember 17 in the withdrawing direction constitutes the tilt mechanism 90in cooperation with the hook member 17.

As shown in FIG. 19, the transverse movement slot 83, as being incommunication with the movement end at the rear portion of the movementslot 82, allows right/left horizontal movement of the hook member 17,and this transverse movement slot 83 is capable of retaining the coolerunit 8 under the rearwardly tilted posture.

At a leading end of the transverse movement slot 83, there are formed aslot enlarged portion 4A and a depth receiving portion A5 for allowinginsertion and withdrawal of the hook member 18.

The slot enlarged portion 4A has a similar shape to and is slightlylarger than the stopper member 18. In operation, by elevating thestopper member 18 in opposition to the slot enlarged portion A4, thehook member 17 can be withdrawn from the guide horizontal plate 19 andthe cooler unit 8 can be detached from the machine body frame 3.

The depth receiving portion A5 is an extension portion of the transversemovement slot 83 and is formed with a slot width not allowing withdrawalof the stopper member 18. When the hook member 17 is moved to this depthreceiving portion A5, the depth receiving portion A5 serves to preventwithdrawal of the hook member 17. Thus, when the cooler unit 8 has slidmaximally laterally, there is created a large space between the otherend of the cooler unit 8 and the machine body frame 3 and at the sametime the cooler unit 8 can be maintained under the rearwardly tiltedposture.

The extension bottom plate 51 includes, on the right/left outer sides ofthe right and left support decks 12, auxiliary support decks 63 forsupporting the cooler unit 8 over an increased width. Each auxiliarysupport deck 63 acts also as an attaching member 13 for bolt-fasteningthe stay 56 projecting from the cooler unit frame 8B.

When the hook member 17 enters the movement slot 82 from the transversemovement slot 83, the right/left position of the cooler unit 8 is fixed,so the hook member 17 and the movement slot 82 together constituteright/left positioning means for the cooler unit 8.

A seal member 64 shown in FIG. 14 comprises bellows and is configured tocome into contact with a seal receiving member (not shown) fixed to theengine 7 provided at a position for surrounding the cooling fan 7A,thereby to allow the fan shroud 10 to be disposed at an appropriateposition. With this, even when the cooler unit 8 is mounted again aftermovement, the chip clearance between the cooling fan 7A and the fanshroud 10 can be minimal, while preventing contact between the fanshroud 10 and the cooling fan 7A.

In this second embodiment, like the first embodiment, when the fixationby the attaching member 13 is released, the cooler unit 8 and the fanshroud 10 attached to this cooler unit 8 can be moved rearwardhorizontally from the engine 7 side via the movement mechanism 80. And,subsequent to this horizontal rearward movement, via the tilt mechanism90, the upper portion of the cooler unit 8 can be tilted rearward awayfrom the engine 7. And, during the horizontal rearward movement and thetilting movement, the carrier deck 20 downwardly of the machine bodyframe supports the rear lower portion of the cooler unit 20, thusensuring stable horizontal movement.

Incidentally, the shapes and the fore/aft, right/left and upper/lowerpositional relationships of the respective components in the aboveembodiments are best when embodied as shown in FIGS. 1-22. Theinvention, however, is not limited to these embodiments. Thesecomponents and their constructions as well as their combinations canvary in many ways.

For instance, the movement mechanism 80 and the tilt mechanism 90 can beused in a mounting construction for mounting the engine 7 and the coolerunit 8 to a work machine such as a backhoe, instead of the skid-steerloader, such that the engine 7 and the cooler unit 8 are mounted on themachine body frame 3 along the right/left direction, with the coolerunit 8 being horizontally movable in the right/left direction.

Further, the fan shroud 10 can be attached to the engine 7, rather thanto the cooler unit 8 and the cooler unit 8 may be configured to bemovable horizontally in the direction away from the engine 7 and the fanshroud 10, thus creating a space allowing maintenance between the coolerunit 8 and the fan shroud 10. Or, the cooler fan 7A can be configured asa suction type.

The support decks 12 can be disposed on the right and left sides of thecooler unit 8 and the movement mechanism 80 and the tilt mechanism 90may be formed on the right and left sides of the cooler unit 8. And, theengaging member 14 or the hook member 17 can be provided in the coolerunit body 8A per se to be detachably attached to the attaching member13. And, the bottom wall 26A and the extension bottom plate 51 may beformed of a single plate.

Third Embodiment

A cooler unit mounting arrangement according to a third embodiment ofthe invention will be described next with reference to FIG. 24, FIG. 25and FIGS. 26A, B, C. The cooler unit mounting arrangement relating tothis third embodiment largely differs from the foregoing embodiments inthe following two respects.

(1) The engaging members 14 are provided with downward orientation atopposed end portions of the lower plate 53 of the cooler unit frame 8B.The positioning member 58 is fixed to the lower face of the lower plate53 at its substantially right/left center. In this embodiment, thispositioning member 58 is provided as a downwardly oriented projectingmember bent in the U-shape. As the positioning member 58 is engaged in athrough hole 3 a defined in a floor plate 3A constituting the machinebody frame 3, the positioning of the cooler unit 8 is realized.

(2) The slots such as the movement slot 81 and the tilt slot 91 formedin the guide vertical plate 15 so as to act as guides for the engagingmember 14 in the foregoing embodiments, are formed as guide edges inthis third embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, in the bottom faceof the guide vertical plate 150, a first guide edge 151 (correspondingto the movement slot 81) for guiding the horizontal movement of thecooler unit 8 and a second guide edge 62 (corresponding to the tiltguide slot 91) for guiding the horizontal movement of the cooler unit 8are formed continuously. More particularly, the shapes of these firstguide edge 151 and second guide edge 152 are substantially shapes of themovement slot 81 and the tilt slot 91 modified with eliminationtherefrom their portions which are not directly needed for the guiding.Therefore, in this embodiment, the movement mechanism 80 is formed bythe engaging member 14 and the first guide edge 151, and the tiltmechanism 90 is formed of the engaging member 14 and the second guideedge 152.

With the above, in this third embodiment too, with the function of themovement mechanism 80, the cooler unit 8 is moved in the direction awayfrom the cooling fan 8A, that is, from the engine 7, and with thefunction of the tilt mechanism 90, about the lower portion of the coolerunit 8, the upper portion of the same is tilted away from the engine 7,whereby there is created a large upper space between the engine 7, thecooling fan 7A and the cooler unit 8, thus increasing ease ofmaintenance.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mounting arrangement for mounting a cooler unitto a work machine including a traveling device, a machine body frame, anengine and the cooler unit disposed adjacent the engine, the arrangementcomprising: a support deck provided in the machine body frame forsupporting the cooler unit; an attachment unit for releasably fixing thecooler unit to the machine body frame; a movement mechanism providedbetween the cooler unit and the support deck, the movement mechanismallowing the cooler unit to effect a translational movement to change adistance relative to the engine; a tilt mechanism provided between thecooler unit and the support deck, the tilt mechanism allowing tilting ofan upper portion of the cooler unit in the direction away from theengine after the transitional movement of this cooler unit away from theengine; and a carrier deck provided on the support deck remote from themovement mechanism and the tilt mechanism, the carrier deck carrying alower portion of the cooler unit moved by the movement mechanism and thetilt mechanism.
 2. The mounting arrangement for mounting a cooler unitto a work machine according to claim 1, wherein said translationalmovement comprises a horizontal movement.
 3. The movement arrangementfor mounting a cooler unit to a work machine according to claim 1,wherein the movement mechanism and the tilt mechanism are combined andintegrated together as a movement/tilt mechanism.
 4. The mountingarrangement for mounting a cooler unit to a work machine according toclaim 3, wherein said movement/tilt mechanism includes: an engagingmember formed as a downward projection at a lower portion of the coolerunit; a guide vertical plate provided in the support deck; a movementslot defined in the guide vertical plate to be engageable with theengaging member for guiding the horizontal movement of the cooler unit;and a tilt slot defined in the guide vertical plate to be incommunication with a movement end of the movement slot so as to allowthe tilting movement of the upper portion of the cooler unit in thedirection away from the engine, the tilt slot guiding an upward movementof the engaging member.
 5. The mounting arrangement for mounting acooler unit to a work machine according to claim 3, wherein saidmovement/tilt mechanism includes: a hook member formed as a downwardprojection at a lower portion of the cooler unit; a stopper memberprovided at a lower end of the hook member; a guide horizontal plateprovided in the support deck; and a movement slot defined in the guidehorizontal place, the movement slot being engageable with the hookmember for guiding the horizontal movement of the cooler unit, themovement slot restricting inadvertent withdrawal of the stopper memberduring the tilting movement of the cooler unit.
 6. The mountingarrangement for mounting a cooler unit to a work machine according toclaim 5, wherein said guide horizontal place defines a transversemovement slot in communication with the movement end of the movementslot, said transverse movement slot guiding transverse movement of thehook member relative to the horizontal movement direction.
 7. Themounting claim arrangement for mounting a cooler unit to a work machineaccording to claim 1, wherein said cooler unit is disposed at a rearportion of the machine body frame, so that a rear portion of the coolerunit projects more rearward than a rear face of the machine body frameand a rear end of a room cover covering the upper side of the coolerunit.
 8. The mounting arrangement for mounting a cooler unit to a workmachine according to claim 1, wherein said cooler unit includes acooling fan and a fan shroud surrounding the cooling fan, and thecooling fan and the fan shroud are movable together with the coolerunit.